Ooltewah celebrated senior day Monday night against Walker Valley with a chance to tie the Mustangs for first place in District 5-AAA, but that and repeated in-game pressure did not faze Daniel Willie.
The Ooltewah senior pitched a complete game and struck out 11 batters in a 4-0 victory. Although the Owls (22-5, 7-3) managed only four hits, they were able to make the most of their opportunities.
Walker Valley (17-10, 7-3) totaled nine hits in the seven innings but failed to plate a run and stranded 11 baserunners.
Ooltewah's Zach Wolfe slides safely under Walker Valley catcher Hunter Shamblin's tag Monday, April 24, 2017, at Ooltewah High School."He's got ice water in his veins," Ooltewah coach Brian Hitchcox said of Willie. "He's always been a big-game pitcher for us, and he has come up big in big spots. We had a lot of confidence in him going into today, and I thought he pitched well."
Willie got off to a rough start, allowing the first two Mustangs to get into scoring position, but got out of a jam with back-to-back strikeouts and center fielder Jake Sullivan's diving grab to end the inning.
The Owls rode the momentum into the bottom half of the inning, scoring the first run without a hit. Andrew Manning's RBI groundout brought home Andy Reed, who had reached base on a leadoff walk.
Ooltewah made it 2-0 in the second inning on an Austin Spurgeon sacrifice fly that scored Trevor Wiggs. Walker Valley again had runners in scoring position in the third, but a 6-4-3 double play got Willie out of another jam.
Following the top of the fifth when Willie again escaped with runners on, the Owls doubled their margin with a little small ball. Manning's infield single scored Zach Wolfe, and Reed tallied another run on a passed ball.
Walker Valley had one last chance in the top of the seventh, but Willie again delivered in a high-pressure situation. With the bases loaded and one out, he got the final two batters to ground out and strike out to secure his third win of the season.
"I just did what I had to do," Willie said. "I just had to come and execute like I always do and just get the win. I just wanted to go out with a bang."
Manning drove in two runs for the Owls. The bottom third of their order had three of the team's four hits.
Tucker Mendenhall was 4-for-4 for Walker Valley, and Jacob McCall and Hunter Shamblin had two hits apiece in the loss.
"We had nine hits and left 11 on base, but they did a good job minimizing the damage there," Mustangs coach Joe Shamblin said. "But if I know these guys like I think I do, they will bounce back tomorrow and they will come out fighting."
Contact Anthony Sigismond at sports@timesfreepress.com.